Friday, March 31, 2006

Nonsense from the WaPo

More of the WaPo's nonsense can be found in this article A Historian's Faithful Account about Karen Armstrong, who surely ranks alongside Georgetown's John Esposito as an abject Islamic apologist. No surprise, Armstrong has been a featured speaker at Esposito's so-called Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (now officially called the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, although I'd rather call it Weedy's Dawa-ganda Center :-). The article is by Sally Quinn, Ben Bradlee's squeeze at the WaPo.

Armstrong reasserts her claim that Islam is not a violent religion, sweeping aside 9/11, Bali, Madrid, the London Undergrouond bomb blasts, and the most recent spectacle of Cartoon Rage. On the other hand, here is what she says about the religious right in America:

Like most fundamentalists, they have a pernicious, horrible, paranoid view of the 'other' ... It used to be that the Soviet Union was the enemy described in the book of Revelation that would bring about the last days. Now, they've switched to Islam. They had to regroup. But you can't equate true religion with hatred.

Here is what Armstrong says about those who follow the "Left Behind" series:

It's a strange thing in this country that people have this view of the world. If these people went to a psychiatrist, they would be diagnosed with a psychological disorder.

I don't believe in the Rapture (and it's disputed among Christain believers), but that characterization could be better applied to Muslims. Unfortunately, too many people have fallen for Karen Armstrong's dreck, including my own father. He's probably watched too many of her appearances on Bill Moyers's TV shows on PBS.